Wednesday, February 15, 2012

My friend, Kristin, posted on her blog Monday some of her loves {favorite things} in which gave a great tip for a "stylish" ponytail among some of her other favorite things right now. This got me to thinking about some tips that have been very helpful to me lately and inspired me to share...apps and onions!

Before Christmas my sweet husband welcomed me into the Apple world with the gift of an iPhone. Before he got it for me, I didn't really think I would use it that much or really needed it. But I must say, I've really enjoyed how easy it is to use and all the cool apps that are available (much more than were available on my old Blackberry). I hate to pay full price for anything, especially when I know there is a coupon available. I do a lot of my for my business shopping online, but sometimes I must go into our local JoAnn store to buy supplies. If you are on JoAnn's snail mail list or e-mail list, you know they always have some sort of coupon. But keeping up with coupons can be hard sometimes. A few weeks ago, I got an e-mail from them letting me know that they have a new app for the iPhone. It intrigued me, so I looked it up in the app store and since it was free I downloaded it. I must say, it's worth having on your phone! The app gives you coupons to store in your virtual wallet on your phone. When you shop at JoAnns you just choose the coupon you want to use on your app and show it to the cashier and they type in the coupon code from your phone. Over the last week I've had to make TWO quick runs to JoAnns and each time there was a great coupon on the app that I was able to use. Yesterday, I saved over $10 and at least that much on the previous trip. (They were both 50% off coupons.)

I'm apart of a little produce co-op where we buy vegetables and fruit in bulk from our local farmers market. It has been a huge blessing to our family the last 3+ years to have fresh fruit and veggies in our home purchased at a much cheaper price than retail at the grocery store. Three weeks ago today, my friend Lucy, gave me a bunch of green onions that she had purchased at the market, as she said, for pennies. We discussed some different ways to store them for maximum freshness and longevity.

I told her that I saw on Pinterest that you could put a bunch in a vase on you window seal and just cover the roots with water and they were supposed to last a long time. Time for the experiment! I must report with great surprise that it works! They just keep growing and growing. I snip off some green onion when I need some for a recipe or when it gets too long that it starts to droop over. I also change out the water on a regular basis.

Here's what mine look like after 3 weeks. I love tips like this! Please share some of your money saving and fresh-keeping produce tips with me. :)